Writing Our Future
by Eryis
Summary: Lucy Heartfillia is an author, self entitled maybe, but an author non the less. When she faces the challenge that all authors do, writers block, she goes to an Internet forum for help. A user named Albion-Runic comes to her aid with tips on how to overcome it. The two become online friends, but Lucy's unaware that her new companion is famous author Freed Justine (Runestar Au)
1. Chapter 1: Writers block

**Writing out future**

**Chapter One: Writers Block**

**\\_/|IO~~~~~~~~~~~~~OI|\\_/ **

Night clubs, as a general rule, wouldn't open their doors to the public until about 7pm, quite often later. Opening at an earlier time would be pointless, who would go to a place of drinks and mistakes before their evening meal?

Lucy Heartfillia would, and she did on a daily basis. The Main-Flame nightclub wasn't open, per-say, but she was allowed in despite this. Walking to the double doors and knocking was habit, as was waiting for the pierced and tough looking bouncer to open the door for her after seemingly hours; idiot seemed to enjoy making her wait in the cold alley. Upon entering the door she saw the room which would be filled with music and drunk idiots in two hours.

"Hey Luce." An unwavering and almost monotone voice spoke, though the chirpiness of the girls usual voice could still be slightly heard. The girl who spoke, Levy McGarden, sat on a leather cushioned bar stool with a laptop in front of her, fingers dancing across it and eyes steady in the screen. "How long did you wait?"

"Not that long, couple of minuets." Lucy walked over to the bar, giving the bouncer Gajeel an glare, which caused a smirk on his metal riddled face, as she walked past. "Five or six, getting better." A lie, if anything it was getting worse but levy was too involved in her writing on the computer to care.

"Good good." Levy mover her hand to the mouse pad, clicked on something and allowed her hands to retreat the their keyboard home. "Could you call Erza over? I could do with a sprite and don't have time to stop."

The red headed bartender, and part-time bouncer, that Levy spoke of raised an eyebrow of slight amusement. She was standing b hand the bar not too meters away from levy with a champaign glass in hand which she was washing for the upcoming wedding party that had been planned. Yes, she had remained quiet to allow the girl to finish her essay as commanded upon arrival, but she hadn't left her position behind the bar since.

"Okay?" Lucy spoke slowly, making eye contact with Erza and raising a hand as if to 'What?'. The redhead simply shrugged and placed the glass on the rising pyramid benign the bar which would be used as an alcoholic fountain, beauty enhanced by the blue and green neon light below it. "Can Levy please have a Sprite?"

"She most certainly can, and for you, Lucy?" Erza took a glass from below the bar, took it to the ice dispenser which released three cubes into the glass, and then to the soft drinks machine where it was filled with lemonade. Then, to finish the look, a black straw upturned for Levy's convenience.

"Just a red J20 plea- are they bunny ears?" Lucy looked at the accused headwear in confusion. Okay, she didn't know much about what happened when the club officially opened but she was almost sure that Erza, woman of dignity and pride, would not wear those every night.

"Yes, they are." Erza sighed, giving the ears a glare that could crack a glass if possible. "The party that's coming in was having a mixed bachelor and bachelorette part so they wanted all the staff members to be dressed in a so called sexy way."

"Yeah." Gajeel had walked over to the three women throughout their conversation. "Guys in tight black pants, bow ties, no shirts and the ears. Girls in those weird black leotard crap with the ears as well. Fucking perverted boss." The last part of his statement was mumbled, Erza wouldn't like it if she had heard. She had.

"He is not a pervert, Gajeel. And if you think he is then why on earth are you do you still work here." Erza smirked, a joke forming in her head. "You stand by the door every night, you should know how to use it." She wasn't comically blessed.

"I ain't got no choice, what other jobs can a twenty-two year old guy get where they freak out pissed guys." Gajeel also smirked. "The only reason you stay around here is cause your fucking the boss.

"We are not fucking dammit, and don't use that language in front of levy and Lucy." Erza hissed.

"You just used that language." Lucy shivered and Gajeel chuckled.

"Levy, can you help get it into his thick, metal infused head that me and Jellal are engaged." Levy wasn't listening, but heard the tone of voice so used the words she thought appropriate.

"Naughty Gajeel, bad." Her own tone was steady and dull, her fingers still dancing across the keyboard of letters.

Lucy sipped at the drink Erza had subconsciously brought her from the mini fridge during her anger. Though, if it got to the point of physical violence between the two of could become frightening, the squabbled and arguments between the two were always amusing to watch and always available; two headstrong character were bound to clash, after all.

"What are you actually doing, Lev?" Lucy spoke louder than normal as her two other friends had began to shout. Lucy herself had tried to glance at the computer screen once or twice, but the overhead LCD lights caused an annoying glare that forbade her to look at it.

"English essay." Levy let her eyes and fingers drift from the computer to drag the glass of Sprite to her and drink a third of it in one gulp. Lucy sighed, her friend did have a habit of hibernating herself in work. "Had to pick two poems for a textbook, one modern and one historical, wit the same themes and compare both language techniques and how the act was committed. Has to be done by Monday and I want a day if tomorrow so I'm finishing it today. Or trying to." She went back to typing. "You've got your laptop, for any reason?"

"Oh, I thought I could write a bit of my novel but, well..." Lucy chuckled nervously. "A cream college dorm room isn't exactly the most inspirational place I could think of." She sighed as she sipped her drink again. "Writers block really sucks."

"Well, what's happening, maybe we could give you a couple of ideas." Erza stopped her fight only to receive a slightly exasperated look from the blond. "Can't know because it's personal? I suppose you're right for keeping it hidden, if those two found out about it then you'd be in all sorts of hell."

The two others Erza spoke of were the remaining adult members of the group: Natsu and Gray. The two makes were both at their respective jobs as usual for a Saturday afternoon. Gray was at the local ice-rink where he was a skating tutor for teens and young adults, a job he didn't wish to keep as his ideal job was to be a model. Natsu was at the nearby kebab shop cooking the salt and fat filled meals for those who wanted it. He too didn't want to remain in that job, he was studying in another university where he was learning chemistry; the others of the group suspected that he did this so he could make explosions.

"Yeah. And I don't want you, Gajeel, to tell them about it."

"Bad Gajeel. No telling Natsu and Gray." Levy a flat voice, yet again.

"The hell, I didn't fuckin' do anything yet." Gajeel cursed loudly at levy, who seemingly couldn't have cared less. "Don't ignore me, shrimp."

"So your book, Lucy." Erza drew her eyes from the one sided argument, as amusing as it was. "Why did you come here to get inspiration, don't people usually go to parks or forest of places with nature for that?" Erza placed the final champaign glass in the pile with care, lord knows how Jellal would react should it fall. He'd probably tie her up for being a bad- okay, cut that thought off now.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you. There's a nightclub in it and the main male charade works behind the bar so I though, you know, this would help out a bit with everything."

"This character, he works behind the bar?" Erza asked with a suspicious voice. "This wouldn't have any relation to reality, would it? This man wouldn't be in a relationship with the owner. Because, I did notice how you were watching how me and Jellal acted together whenever you could..."

"Erza, I promise you I'm not writing a love story about you and Jellal with slight differences to reality. I may not be a great writer but I'm better than that." Lucy laughed. "Wether you appear as side characters is neither here nor there." She mumbled without Erza knowing, she was too busy sighing in exaggerated relief.

"Well, if you have any questions about working behind a bar then feel free to ask." Erza got a glass from beneath the bar and this time got a drink of coke for herself. "How far are you into this chapter, anyway?"

"Not written a word." Lucy sighed, "College sucks if you want tor write, all the English courses I could have taken and not one that allows me to write what I actually want to write. I can conjure up a six page description of a drop of water falling from a leaf with ease but my own work, well that's just preposterous. I haven't actually written anything in this since February, and can't get back into it."

"Well that I can't help you with." Erza was interrupted by another knock on the door. "Gajeel, get that, probably the costumed for later." The man did as told; he'd extort a drink out of the red head later for his compliance. "Levy, do you have any help?"

"I'll email you a link to a forum for writers when I'm done." Still the usual bubbly tone was unnoticeable, a sign of Levi's boredom of the task. "Working now, go away."

"Her Erza, where'd your boy toy want the ties and crap?" Gajeel shouted from the door, large box in his hands that seemed to weigh nothing. He walked to the girls, muscles flexing as he got closer; though who it was for, if anyone, was unknown as nobody seemed to notice.

"Put them behind the bar, I'll move them later." Erza sighed, fist clenched slightly behind the bar at the name Gajeel gave birth her boss and finance. "Could you go find Laki, she should be in her office. We've got strobe in tonight so we need to see if all of them work."

"Yeah yeah." Gajeel dropped the box on the bar top, getting a glare as the dust would cause it to be dirty, and walked off into the far reaches of Main-Flame. "Fucking bossy bitch." He mumbled, ducking when a cork was flung at his head.

"So, how are you and Jellal getting along, wedding wise?" Lucy leant on the bar, laptop pushed to the side, and supported he head with her hands. A grin spread on her face, knowing how Erza could get sometimes. "Any planning done at all?"

"We've got a nice venue, a modern grand hall, a wedding band, and that's just about it so far." Erza grinned. He thought of a minimalist wedding in her mind. "We have a good week though, next week, tasting caterers and cakes. So lots of food."

"Lucky, I'm practically living off curry and pot-friggin-noodles." Lucy sipped at her drink again, which Erza had refilled without her knowing. "Whenever I get a tune sandwich it's a damn heavenly meal."

"Why don't you ask natsu to get you some free chicken or something. You extort enough drink outa me." She grabbed a bag of peanuts from a bow beneath the bar and pored it into bowl shaped indent in the bar. "Cheapskate."

"Heard that." Lucy growled. "And I don't ask that idiot for anything. He'll make me do something stupid for it. Remember last time, when I wanted his physics notes in high school and he made me drink that health smoothie that tasted like crap. He filmed it as well and out it in Facebook, everyone saw it."

"You were vomiting like a waterfall."

"Thank you, Levy, but can we turn of the monotone monologue for a bit, it's not helpful."

"Everyone called you the Sip and Spurt machine, if you were spun around you'd look like a Catherine wheel."

"Levy!"

"If I talked to Jellal I could probably get one of those spinning platforms and put her in it." Erza smirked. "Natsu could out that on Facebook and call it Sip and Spurts Second Slide."

"You're both horrible women and I hate you." Lucy growled, though she didn't mean what she said. "I'm gonna go and get some food. And don't you dare tell Gajeel about what happened in high school or I'll hurt you."

"Too late!" Gajeel shouted from seemingly nowhere, his voice coming through the speaker system. "Laki knows too, she's gonna make the sonny thing for ya."

"I hate you all."

**~~/()(O)()()()()()()()()()(O)()\~~**

Lucy walked down the busy city street, eyes blinking at the sudden light that hadn't been in the alleyway she'd just walked through. She had decided, considering her college had given her the weeks allowance with extra because of how she helped marking with an unorganised math teacher, she would go to the same fast food place Natsu worked at.

Upon entering the small shop the smell hit her with strength, making her grin. She had been careful to avoid establishments like this regularly as not only did they take a big bite of her allotted savings but also added large spikes in calories which would be annoying to rid herself of, more so if it was a weekly thing. But, she reasoned, it's fine to treat yourself every now and again.

"Heya Luce." Natsu greeted upon her entrance. "What are ha doin' here, though this food was too fatty for you. Or, maybe Luce, you wanted to see me for some one and one time." He practically slid over to the desk that separated them. "Huh, huh?" His eyebrows wriggled.

"Shut up, Natsu." Lucy laughed. "I thought I'd treat myself to something fatter, I can go to the gym or something later on." Her eyes scanned the menus printed above the counter. "Medium fries and doner kebab, please. You guys have wifi, don't you?"

"Yeah, passwords on the bottom of the menus." Natsu turned and rolled his shoulders. "Glad you came, to be honest, we only get two or three guys in on these shifts and they're all rushing to get out. An' I'm the only guy here, sure it's easy and crap but damn boring."

"Well, I can stay around here while I eat, I suppose." Lucy sat in one of the tables and opened the laptop. "Apart from being bored, how are you? I never really see you anymore, conflicting time tables and all."

"Yeah, sucks don't it? Suppose I can't change it, Chem really is hard to get cause there's only two labs. You know we have buy our own stuff for the experiments sometimes, and if we can't it's added onto our damn bill at the end."

"Really, that seems a bit unfair. Though, we have to pay for our textbooks and stuff so it makes sense, I suppose."

"Yeah. But try finding copper sulphate at the last damn minuet, you can't do it."

"Why wait until the last minuet." Lucy spoke blandly, then looked up. "Hang on, where on earth will you get copper sulphate from anyway? It's not something you can get at the local supermarket."

"Some shop set up down the street by the school, they set it up so they can get more damn money from us. Crafty shits." Natsu placed the polystyrene case of food next to Lucy and looked over her shoulder to the laptop. "What cha workin' on?"

"Nothing, just a little project." Lucy pushed off as Natsu rested his head in her shoulder, much to her annoyance. "Can you please get behind the counter and stop annoying me. Honestly, you never change."

"Who the hell's Axel?" Natsu asked, taking the laptop from Lucy and walking away with it, despite her loud protests. " 'The music began to rise, as did the neon lighting as Axel walked to the stage. His body was covered by a black trench-coat, torso bare breath as he began to sensually stressed the mental pole before him.' Lucy, are you writing porn?"

"No, give me my laptop back!" Lucy shouted, however Natsu had gone behind the counter and locked the small gate like thing that devised them. "Natsu!" She leant over the counter and made a grab at the computer Natsu held.

"Can all customers please refrain from obsessively leaning over the counter top or they shall be forced to leave." Natsu grinned as he spoke, then moved his eyes back to the laptop. "It's called 'Club of Midnight' you are so writing porn. And here I thought you were a good girl."

"I am not writing porn!" Lucy shouted. "It's a love story about a male stripper and a goth girl. It's how they overcome their problems and -aww dammit." She suddenly realised what she had actually done, revealed the plot to Natsu of all people.

"Goth girl huh, you know any of them?"Natsu smirked. "Hey, levy emailed ya with a link to some website. I'll reply. 'Hey lev-lev, thanks but you gave me the wrong link. I wanted one for gay guys doin' each other while being tied up.' That sounds like you."

"Don't you dare, Natsu, or I will kill you." Lucy bellowed, evilly glaring at her friend; though that title could be considered a bit of a stretch. "And, speaking of gay guys. You found anyone yet."

"Nah." Natsu placed the laptop down, having annoyed Lucy enough. "Nobody's brave enough to ride the fire dragon. Ive tried to snog Gray once or twice by he gets all shy about it and pushes me of."

"I don't think he's shy, Natsu." Lucy took her laptop away. "I think he's straight."

"Yeah, suppose he ain't the shy type." Natsu sighed. "But I guess that's good, he would t want to be a model if he were. Fingers crossed he gets a job doing Calvin Klein boxers, give me something to jack off to."

"Did not need to know that!" Lucy shouted, doner meat handing from her mouth as she tapped on the keyboard with the greaseless hand. "Hey Natsu, says I need a name. Any ideas?"

"Fire Dragons Bitch?" Natsu grinned while receiving a glare. "Kidding kidding. What was that name you when I made you play World of Warcraft? Star washer or something."

"StarSummoner, I think." Lucy typed the words into the box, her usual password following as well as her email. "Now how do I set up a page?" She spoke to herself.

"I've seen this layout on forums all the time, they use the same server host I think. Click there, okay now on that little thing there. Next you put what you want the forum page to be in that box, make it obvious so people scrolling will know. Then put a post so people can see the details. Now post. There you go."

"Hey, thanks Natsu." Lucy thanked.

"No prob." The cook grinned. "Crap. The boss's coming and gets all huffy when I'm bein' nice to the customers. Bastard."

"Well, I'll leave you alone then. Can I get a bag for my food?"

"Sure thing."

**Hello everyone, welcome to my Freed X Lucy story. I found a distinct lack of Runestar AU's so thought I should post my own. This chapter was obviously very Lucy heavy and about her daily life, so the next shall be about Freed and his life. Please review and tell me if its good or not and how I can improve.**

**Also, if anyone wants to be BETA TESTERS then drop a review saying so and we can exchange emails. Thanks.**

**Thelonehound~**


	2. Chapter 2: Writers reality

**Chapter Two: Writers Reality **

**\\_/|IO~~~~~~~~~~~~~OI|\\_/ **

Sleep is heavenly. A euphoric state of relaxation where your mind takes control of your body and thoughts, to the point where your deepest ideas and fantasies are allowed to freely be realised in the form of dreams. Yet sleep is such a fragile state.

An example of the fragile nature of sleep presented itself to Freed Justine. The shrill sound of the phone blasted into his ears, and made his eyes shoot open in seconds. He sat up with a groan as he heard the shower of his roommate beating down on the plastic floor. His adopted brother wouldn't have heard the phone over the rush of water, so it was Freed's duty to answer it.

He sat up and swung his legs across his bed so his bare feet touched the wooden floor. He stood up, rubbing his left eye which held his sleep. Dressed only in dark blue sweatpants, he shuffled out of his dark room and into the living space of the flat, which contained a living room, kitchen/dining room, and the damn phone.

After a long yawn left his mouth, he picked the receiver from its home and placed it to his ear. "Hello." The traces of sleep were still evident in his less than active tone.

"Hello, am I talking to Laxus Dreyar?" The voice asked. It was a women's voice, with the squeaky tone one would associate with a spa receptionist.

"He's actually in the shower at the moment. I'm his roommate so if you wish I can pass on a message to him." Freed silently cursed himself as he spoke. He could have easily told the annoying-voiced woman to call back later, and gone back to sleep.

"Yes, that would be helpful." Freed slumped on the nearby sofa and took the notebook they kept by the phone just in case a message needed be taken. "I represent Total-Refresh Leisure Centre. Your roommate, Laxus, recently applied for a job with us working as Personal Trainer. We would like to give him an interview and practice session to test his fitness."

"Okay." Freed sighed, clicking the pen out of the casing. "Is there any details I should know about, times, what's needed for his fitness session?"

"Ah yes, the interview starts at 10am exactly, and for the fitness testing he needs a regular gym clothing, whatever that is for him." Freed wrote down what she said as she spoke. "Goodbye." And she hung up.

"Charming." Freed muttered.

He walked to the door which led to Laxus's room. The shower could still be heard as he opened the door without bothering to knock, and walked into the bedroom. He had to step over the discarded clothing that decorated the floor. He knocked in the bolted bathroom door loudly and shouted, "Laxus, get out of your shower. You've got an interview today with a leisure centre. And wash your hair, I'll make it look professional."

The muffled cuss from in the shower and the lack of water crashing into the floor made him certain that Laxus had heard.

Freed walked out of the room and into the living area, shivering slightly as the cold air of the irritatingly active air-conditioning hit his bare chest. He walked to the kitchen and turned on the oven, with difficulty as it wasn't the newest model possible. He would be having heated Pain au Chocolat for his breakfast today to make up for being woken up at such an early time.

Laxus soon walked out of his room, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers. His hair was wet, and his neck slightly damp because of it. Freed, though he wasn't thrilled to admit it, was used to seeing his brother in such a state of undress and made no comment. He may have rolled his eyes, but Laxus didn't see.

"Crap crap crap crap crap." Laxus mumbled, his body language tense and nervous.

"If you need to visit the bathroom that bad, then just go." Freed attempted the joke to relieve the tension, but it didn't work. "Why are you so panicked?"

"What the hell do I wear, a suit or gym stuff?" Laxus rushed out. "I mean, how do I act with the guys interviewing me, do I act all business like or as a friend or what? I said I'd do a shift at Mira's cafe as well today, she'll get pissed at me again if I miss out on it."

"Laxus, calm down." Freed's voice was forcefull as he removed a metal tray from the heating oven. "They told me that you should bring your gym clothes with you, so I suggest you wear the suit we got you a month or so ago and bring your gym kit with you in a bag. Make sure you leave it in the waiting area as well, lugging a massive bag around won't do you any favours. During the interview act professional but calm, show your true nature during the time when they test how fit you are. And as for Mirajane, I can cover for you; I don't have anything else to do and she likes me enough to understand why." He looked back at Laxus. "Stop stressing, it won't help you at all. And while I remember to tell you, cover yourself in deodorant; sweat while working out is fine but not in an interview."

"Thanks Freed." Laxus slumped on the chair of the kitchen island. "Shit, I haven't had an interview in five moths and now I'm like a friggin bunny being chased by a fox."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're fit enough to do the job, and they train you how to do it." Freed put the pasties into the oven and sat himself on the stool the other side of the table island. "Now, you go put some clothes on and I'll make sure your hair looks good."

"Yeah yeah." He stood up and cracked the joints in his arms. Soon Freed was left alone again, letting him rest his head on the marbled countertop. He was really tired.

However, as sleep had gone from his hopes, he decided that he would help Laxus in his morning routine, again. He gathered a collection of fruit, vegetables, and green tea leaves from the cupboard and put them into the blender, along with a splash of orange juice, just as he did every morning. How the man could stand drinking the horrid health juice every morning instead of breakfast, Freed would never understand.

"Okay, do your magic." Laxus had put on clothes, as had Freed said to, however he only chose to wear a pair of jeans. Freed would have commented in his lack of a shirt, but he knew the comment would only end up going back to his own bare torso. And then a small argument would break out, and Laxus really didn't need that. He was stressed enough as it was.

"One moment." Freed took his own breakfast from the oven and placed it on a plate. He then filled one glass with Laxus's health smoothie and one with plain apple juice (the latter would be his own). He handed the sloppy green liquid to Laxus, who was sitting on the floor, leaning on the sofa so Freed would have easy access to his hair. Freed then went into his own room and took his hair dryer and brushes into the living area.

"So, how would you like your hair styled today sir."

"Nerd."

**~~/()(O)()()()()()()()()()(O)()\~~**

"Mirajane, stop shouting." Freed spoke calmly into the phone, though he would be surprised if the woman had heard him through her rants. "If you'd just let me finish."

"Your stupid brother is so irritating, Lissanna's on a date with that Michael kid, Elfman's on full time at the building site so he can't help out and Cana's recovering from a hangover again. Laxus was my last hope by no, that would be con-fucking-veniant."

"Mirajane, if you'd just be quiet for a moment."

"So what's his excuse then, got a bad throat? Needs a day off of nothingness cause he's exhausted?" Freed could practically see her pacing throughout the kitchen of her cafe with an angry face and fists clenched. "He always does this you know, pisses off without any reason just to get out of doing work."

"MIRAJANE!" Freed shouted, his phoning companion finally quieting. "If I can just talk for a moment then I can explain his absence." He waited for a moment, Mirajane remained silent. "He has been called in for a job interview at the local gym which would conflict with his shift at your cafe. Before you start again I shall cover for his shift, he's given me a list of what needs to be brought and I'm in my way there now."

"Fine fine, I suppose that's a good enough reason." Freed opened the door to his white car and got in the drivers seat. "But why couldn't he call me himself?"

"Because I would not allow a man who's going into his first interview in five months talk to an angry and shouting Mirajane." Freed smirked, knowing it would annoy her more. "Now, what are Laxus's duties in your café? I assume he doesn't cook as I've tasted his food."

"No, he doesn't cook." A laugh almost arose in her voice as she thought of the possibility of Laxus cooking. "He mainly does counter work but, since you're the one coming then you could cook and I could be on the counter. Laxus tends to scare some of the customers off."

"Yes, I can understand that." Freed turned a corner and slowed the car down to where the cafe parking area was. Finding a spot to park, he got out of the car and opened the back doors, where the food he'd collected for Mirajane was. "Well, I'm here now so I'm about to hang up." Which he did.

Carrying the bags into the quaint building was an easy task, though navigating the door handle with full hands proved to cause some difficulty. In the end he settled with gently kicking it every second until Mirajane stormed over to it. Her angry face settled when she saw him, thankful it wasn't some kid messing up her door.

"Sorry for kicking the door." Freed smiled gently at his companion. "Laxus's list was slightly vague at points, I assume when he says 'Bix Bread' and 'Bix Rolls' he means bread and rolls from Bickslow's bakery."

"Yeah, it's fresher than the sliced stuff from the supermarkets." Mirajane walked past the countertop and into the back room which contained the kitchen. "Speaking of bread, we get a couple of truckers in the morning so could you make some sausage and bacon sandwiches that I can reheat in the microwave later, they're usually in a rush."

"Of course." Mirajane smiled as Freed turned his back; he was considerably more obedient than Laxus had ever been, which was lucky. "You can make soup, can't you? Tomato and chicken if you can." Again, Freed agreed to do as told as he himself was not in the mood to deal with an angry Mirajane, though he knew he was practically the only person who could calm her down.

"Shall do." Freed opened the cupboards and pulled out the ingredients that he would need for the soups that Mirajane had asked for. "Do you expect today to be busy or not?"

"Well it depends, during breakfast and lunch we'll be kinda busy, but it'll just be people having drinks in between so it shouldn't be that hard." A bell from the front room showed someone had walked in. "I'll go get that." She said, and left the kitchen abruptly.

As Freed began to prepare the soup as Mirajane instructed, his phone rang. After checking the caller ID, he placed it back into his pocket. It was his publisher, Kagura, who would be less than happy to hear that he hadn't a slight idea on what the next book in his series' he would be about, since he was being forced to drag it out. An unhappy Kagura meant a painful meeting with her. It was strange really, most of the women Freed knew were quite threatening.

His books had been causing problems for him as of late. He'd finished the fourth book in his series entitled 'Shift', a gothic novel about a servant who could travel across the celestial plains and into the aether. It would have been a terrible book if he hadn't made almost everything in it as sarcastic and unusual as possible. He'd thought that making a sequel to the book was a stretch, but as Kagura had told him many times, they kept a good sales record. So, they would continue to publish.

"Hey Freed, can I get Pancakes with bacon, eggs, and some syrup." It was quiet for a moment. "And a large coffee. That will be $7.99, sir. Thank you."

Freed looked down at the soup which would soon be blended, and sighed. Having not worked there for some time, he'd forgotten that the woman could tend to be a bit unreasonable with her demands. But, as there was a customer they took the priority, so he would make the food they ordered. Mirajane walked in soon and smiled at Freed.

"The guy out there's kinda cute." She placed the money in the tin that Freed insisted that she move to the counter for ease's sake. She didn't listen though, she never really did.

"Good for him." Freed mumbled. "You wouldn't mind poring his coffee, would you? I have to make the pancake batter."

"Sure, sure," Mirajane walked to the coffee percolator she had turned _on_ upon opening up hours ago. "You do know I'm technically the boss, so I'm your boss."

"I'm not getting payed, I'm not getting bossed."

"So if I pay you then I can make you do anything?"

"Go to hell, Mirajane."

Upon finishing the meal for the supposed 'cute' customer, Freed set the plate on the tray along with the coffee and relevant cutlery. Also on the tray was a small white jug filled with a seemingly sufficient amount of syrup, as Freed always enjoyed pouring it on himself and assumed others did, too. He removed his coat he hadn't realised he was still wearing, which left him in a white button up shirt and black pants, and placed the tray on his hand as he had when he worked for a local Indian restaurant.

He brought the man his meal and assessed his looks without realising. He was a slim and tall man, with silky and black hair that reached his shoulders. He wasn't necessarily bad looking, but didn't seem to be anything special, even shy perhaps. Possibly Mirajane's tastes.

"Hey Freed, your phone's ringing, a girl called Kagura apparently." Freed's eyes widened. "Do you have a girlfriend that you haven't told me about?"

"No, but don't answer it." Freed panicked, once a publisher got hold of you, they wouldn't let go. The 'cute' man chuckled slightly, but Freed didn't hear as he saw Mirajane raise the phone to her ear. "Mirajane Struass put that phone down now!"

"Hello, Freed's phone." Freed began to cursed under his breath. "This if his friend, Mirajane. Can I ask who you are?" Again there was silence. "Oh my, you're his publisher. I'll hand you over to him now." Mirajane sounded disappointed at the fact it wasn't a hidden girlfriend. She passed over the phone while mouthing an 'I'm sorry'. He scowled.

"Hello Kagura." Freed mumbled, hoping that by some miracle the phone's battery would suddenly die.

"Have you started writing yet?" A harsh tone cut through the phone's speaker and blasted into his ear. "And you better have at least written the first chapter by now because if you haven't then I'll be the one in the shit with my boss."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't." Freed waited for the shouting he'd be in the receiving end of. Though, he was slightly peeved at how fast a rate she expected him to write. For a woman who surrounds herself with the making of novels, she didn't understand much about the process.

"Oh for the love of God, Freed. Writing is your job and if you can't do that then what do I keep you around for?" Slightly harsh, Freed reasoned with himself. "Look, I've got my boss breathing down my neck for a new release and you're usually pretty good working under pressure, well, compared to the others. Come into my office at six tonight and we'll talk." She hung up. People seemed to do that to Freed of late.

"Mirajane, I'm going to kill you."

"She didn't sound that angry." The cafe owner reasoned from behind the counter where she hoped she was safe. "That's a good sign, ain't it?"

"No, it's not a good sign, it's a rather bad sign. When Kagura's nice to you over the phone and invites you into her office it means she's going to keep her anger away until she can actually hurt you." Freed sighed. "She's going to ki- can you two stop making puppy eyes at each other?"

**~~/()(O)()()()()()()()()()(O)()\~~**

Freed waited in nervous anticipation in the waiting area of Kagura's office. Being alone and in the silence of the room gave him more than enough time to regret and curse his past self at choosing a publisher that could most likely curdle milk with a hate filled glance; glances that he would be on the receiving end of for however long Kagura intended to drag out their little talk.

"Miss Mikazuchi will see you now, Mr. Justine." The receptionist said from behind her semi-circular desk, making Freed sigh and stand up. He looked towards the grey glass door with worry. As he walked towards it, he was unaware of the pity the eyes of the receptionist held. Kagura was not in a good mood today.

"Hi Freed." Kagura spoke in a voice that was for too kind to be true. "Sit down and we can discuss what we're going to do about the chapter I should have." Freed did as was told. "Now I just want to make a few things clear to you, is that okay? You see, you write books for a living and I publish them. That's not out of good will, it's because I get money from it as well as you. Not only that, but I pass the money from the profits onto you, so in a way, I'm your boss. What does a worker do for his boss?"

"What they ask of them."

"That's right, a worker does what a boss wants because the boss is in control of them. I have a boss, too, you know that. And my boss wants me to get my writers finishing books so I can publish them, and I'd very much like to keep my boss happy by doing my job." Kagura leant back in her white office chair. "But something stopping me from doing my job, and that is you not doing yours."

"Kagura, I'm sorry but I can't force myself to write If I do it turns out to be lacking in quality."

"But if you wanted to write, Freed, if you cared about your job and my job then imagine this." Her eyes leered at him. "Say all your pens and pencils and computers and everything just stopped working. You couldn't write unless you asked one of your friends for use of their computer and they just said they'd think about it. Every day for weeks and weeks they say they'll think about it. You get more and more frustrated because you know that you can do your job but the only way you can actually do it is with that computer but that damn friend just won't help you out. What would you do?"

"W-well..." Freed stuttered, knowing that saying that he would ask a more reliable friend or buy some more pens would _definitely_ not help the situation he found himself in. "I-I suppose I would-"

"I'll tell you what I'd do. I would go over to that shitty jackass of a friend's house and take the damned thing out of his hands and storm right on out." She was leaning over the desk with a cruel and angered look on her face. "But I can't do that with you, because I need you to do your work for me to do mine. I know if I got a basic plot outline and a few first drafts of chapters then I could please my boss and get out the publicity you need. Get me that by the end of the week or you'll get it in the neck from me." Kagura sighed. "You may leave."

Freed left the office without another word. He gave a polite 'good evening' to the receptionist, who looked at him with a weary smile. Kagura had unknowingly leant on the button that sent a direct voice contact to the office, and she had heard the later part of the rant. The man walked out of the building and climbed into his large car, drove to the house that had been converted to flats, and opened the door.

"Hey Freed." Laxus greeted from the sofa, where he was resting his feet upon the coffee table with a can of beer in hand. "Kinda late, where were you?"

"Kagura and I talked." Freed sighed. "Anyway, how was the interview?"

"Oh, you know. Haven't been in an interview in a while so I can't tell." Laxus smirked from behind his can. "Say, does me starting on Monday seem like a good sign?"

"You got it, congratulations." Free sat beside his brother. "I would have thought they had to train you in how to do everything, was I wrong?"

"Nah, training starts at Monday but I couldn't act smug and shit saying that." Laxus chuckled. "I'm gonna order some Chinese food, want your usual?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Freed stood up. "I'm going to take a shower, I should be out by the time it arrives."

"See ya."

Freed walked out of the living area and into his bedroom. He picked up his tablet and unlocked the device, noticing a red '1' beside the email icon. He tapped the envelope and placed the iPad on his bed, disrobing for his shower. He glanced down at the tablet and saw it was from a website he had joined years ago and never got around to deleting his account. It occasionally sent him emails about pages he would supposedly be interested in, though most were just plugging stories the users had written. He clicked on the email as his shirt became fully removed, simply because the _unread email_ icon annoyed him. His eyes scanned the page and he saw something interesting. A link to a writer asking for help with writers block, instead of the usual 'check out my amazing story' or 'I'm a crap writer, read what I've done and give me criticism' which was always someone wishing for attention.

"Huh, well that's interesting."

**I~~~~~**

**Hurrah, the Freed chapter is done. My baby has his first chapter. So yes, I do like Freed a bit more than other characters so you might notice some favouritism towards him, so sorry in advance if you dislike the mental image of disrobed freed as that will occur quite a lot.**

**Also, thank you SO much for the fantastic reaction, I really appreciate how well received this has been and the amount of followers I have, though it probably doesn't look a lot to some. You lovely people are fantastically amazing and I love you all.**

**Finally, a big thank you to my new and lovely Beta Reader, 'TimeOfTheAngels' who has been ever so kind in helping me with the many mistakes I have. She also has some fantastic stories of her own which I recommend you read if you have the time. **

**Thelonehound~**


	3. Chapter 3: Writers guide

**Chapter Three: Writers Guide **

**\\_/|IO~~~~~~~~~~~~~OI|\\_/**

It's a natural phenomenon that occurs in the lifetime of nearly all humans, contemplating the lack of difficulty the task of murdering your close friends holds. The contemplation comes around for no apparent reason, you don't necessarily want your friend to die at your hands but you think about it anyway. Sometimes it's a circumstantial occurrence, they may be on the edge of a cliff and practically begging to be pushed off of it when the flicker of an image where you do so comes into your mind. Why this happens, you don't know, but it does.

Lucy Heartfilia knew exactly why she wanted to kill the two friends she was in the same room in, Natsu and Gray were insufferable. Put in a close proximity it would take mere minutes before e two butted heads in some form or another. And it was anything that would set them off, most of the time it was done on purpose too. Natsu would wink at Gray in a flirty way, angering him. Gray would make a misuse of the word 'gay' in a sentence and it was on. And it never stopped.

Thankfully there was the momentary lapse of anger where the two were preoccupied with their own activities. This was one of those moments. Natsu was leaning on a kitchen island, flicking though pictured of men that had presented theirselves on his screen; some pictures were tapped to tell them Natsu showed an interest in them while the others were flicked away. Gray had left the kitchen and walked to his bedroom and was, Lucy predicted, hiding all the albums of him not wearing a shirt, or possibly less, that he had sent of to meddling agencies via his agent; he would not allow Natsu to see him shirtless if he could help it.

The reason Gray had the ability to go to his bedroom rested on the fact the three young adults were in the man's apartment. As the birthday of Levy was fast approaching the group of friends had decided that Lucy would make a cake, the fact it was the day after and all stores had shut had nothing to do with this choice, and Gray was the only one with a home they could use to cook. Lucy shared a kitchen with Levy, so that was out; Natsu went to a school that disallowed girls in the boys dorm and boys in the girls, so it was out also; and Ezra was busy that night, so she was being screwed by Jellal.

Thankfully, and almost conveniently, Natsu's roommate was an avid baker and was happy to give him all he needed from the list of stuff Lucy had texted him; Natsu always had wondered what was in the locked cupboard in the shared kitchen and now he knew, a whole load of cooking crap.

"Hey Luce, cute or not?" Natsu raised his phone and forced Lucy to look up from the scales she was glaring at, determined to get the amount of flour correct to the gram. On the screen of the blackberry was a man with brown hair in a quiff style. He was shirtless, stomachs muscles on show for all who looked and flexing his left bicep. "Thinking of asking him out."

"Yeah, I guess he's cute." Lucy was lying, the man was massively attractive and, if it wouldn't give Natsu an excuse to annoy her over it, she would have said so. She brought her face down to the scales and glared at the incorrect number until it flickered into correctness, stupid flour. "Could you pass me that mixing bowl."

"Kay." Natsu placed the phone on the counter and picked up the glass mixing bowl which contained mix of butter, sugar, eggs, cocoa and red food dye; a wooden spoon was also resting in it and Natsu wanted to lick it, but Lucy glared at him before he had the opportunity. He placed the bowl beside her and went back to his phone.

Gray walked into his kitchen when Lucy was tipping the flour from the tray of the scales into the mixing bowl, wafting away the cloud of flour as it rose. He walked to his fridge and took a can of Dr. Pepper from it, tapping the top twice before opening it. He sat at one of the bar stools, Erza had kindly given him a few older ones from Main-Flame, and watched Lucy with idle curiosity.

In her general personality Lucy was a bit of a Tom-boy, though her looks would suggest otherwise. She could, Gray knew from first hand experience, control anyone she wanted if the need struck her; she had shockingly large endurance, more than the average man; and she could make her voice go deep, really deep, with no explanation. So watching her baking was odd; as many thought baking to be something done by women more than men, though if Lucy knew Gray even thought of a claim like that then he would be missing a pair of working testicles.

"So what kinda cake you making then?" Gray asked after gulping down some of his drink. "Don't say it's one of those crap cakes with jam and cream in it."

"That's called a Victoria sponge, Gray, and it's not crap it's a classic birthday cake." Lucy corrected the wannabe model while storing the floppy red liquid. "But no, that's not what we're having. I'm making one of Levy's favourites, Red velvet cake. Did you two know how much she likes chocolate, she's an addict."

"Everyone has their little quirks I guess." Gray took a drink from the can and placed it on the counter. "So her favourite red velvet, that doesn't taste like normal chocolate though, does it."

"Well, she actually prefers Black Forest but I really can't be bothered to make that." Lucy chuckled as she walked to a cutlery draw and produced two spoons, sipped them in the cake mix and gave them to the two males. Natsu took it with a grin, as did Gray, before she placed the bowl on the counter top and looking at the recipe on her laptop.

"Gray, you have some vinegar don't you?" Lucy took a teaspoon out of the draw and filled it with bicarbonate of soda which was then put in the bowl of cake mixture.

"Top left cupboard." Gray told her. Lucy got the vinegar from the cupboard and filled the teaspoon with it, also placing it in the mixture before sitting it gently again. "Can I help somehow?"

"Ah, yes please." Lucy sighed. "Can you make the White chocolate icing please. The recipe's at the bottom of the laptop." Lucy nodded to the laptop, making Gray stand up and crouch before it, reading the small text that told him how to make what was instructed.

"Can I don anythin'?" Natsu asked from his phone, which was now displaying a conversation of flirting and winking emojis between the fast food cook and the shirtless man Lucy had just watched.

"Can you get the three cake tins out of the bag you brought." Lucy phased it as a question but it was a clear demand. Natsu did as told, happy to help and hoping to score one over Gray, which was difficult as Natsu had been given the easier and less important task. "Thanks."

"Anything else?" Natsu sat in the bar stool and picked up his phones, not thinking that there would be any other jobs for him to do in the cooking process.

"Well, these'll be in the oven in a few minuets so you could order a pizza if you want. That's okay, isn't it Gray?" Lucy asked as she attached the beaters of the electric whisk to its white controlling box... thing. She plugged it into the socked and waited for Gray to reply before she began to whisk, the sound would be loud and possibly overthrow his words; which might be useful for later when either he or Natsu did sky thing annoying.

"Yeah, sure. Think there's a menu for a place nearby on the shelf over there." He nodded to the living area where a cluttered class coffee table stood, many things hiding the fact that it was glass and not another material. "Not your place, obviously, any food made from a place you work at might be swimming with jizz and STD's."

"I do not jizz at work and I don't have a fucking STD." Natsu growled ad he moved the magazines and newspapers from the coffee table. "And making guesses that a gay guy has an STD is a stereotype."

"I'm not saying all gays are whores, but you are. You've got a date every other day and never see the guy again, but don't sleep in your bed either."

"How the hell do y-" the rest of the conversation was drowned out by the sound of a whisk running through the gloopy liquid on the highest setting, occasionally scraping the bottom of the bowl whenever the argument got louder than before.

After comments that both would regret later, though the other would not actually care about the content but the tone it was spoken in, Natsu had found the menu for the pizza place and had rand the number printed in the colourful leaflet. The argument, for now, had subsided.

"Hey, can I get two medium pizzas." Natsu said into the phone in his hand. "One a meat feast and the other chicken and pepperoni." And Gray left the room for whatever reason, Natsu began to whisper. "But on the meat feast can you make it as spicy as you can without it being obvious. Drench it in chilly oil and hide jalapeños under cheese, stuff like that. If you do I'll pay triple what I owe. Thanks." Gray returned. "And finally a two litre bottle of diet coke and a two litre bottle of Tango. The address is... Gray, what's your address?"

"13 24 South Caber-Street." Gray rolled his eye, of corse Natsu would be the one of his friends not to know his address. As Natsu recited what Gray had said, the owner of the flat walked to a tightly stacked shelf of DVDs, CDs and the occasional Blue-Ray disk, despite the man not owning a device that could play them; those damn pesky sales guys at the store wouldn't stop trying to sell him one so it was a way out. "You wanna watch a movie or something while its baking?"

"I'm not sure about a movie, it only needs to cook for half an hour and dry for a bit before we ice. Maybe we could watch some TV or something." Lucy suggested as she turned off the whisk and moves the brown to the three cake trays Natsu had prepared for her. She placed the bowl done and gently checked the buckle on it so the sides would be removed when the time came to it. Happy with the functioning tins, she lined them up and prepared them for poring.

"I got that DVD for the British crime show they all yell about, Broadchapple or something like that."

"Broadchurch!" Lucy's head shot up as, yet again, she stopped herself from continuing from baking. "The one with David Tennant, the hot Scottish guy with great hair?"

"Yeah, think he's in it." Gray scanned the titles on the sides of the cases, looking for the case he hoped to find. "And he's not hot, he's kinda weird."

"How dare you!"

"Like you'd know!"

Taken aback by the other two's loud reaction, Gray flinched. He didn't understand the hype for British people, and this guy wasn't hot; not really. He looked scrappy and mental, at least on the cover. Then again, girls and Natsu were generally mental as well so it made sense. He just remained silent, he wouldn't get in the way on the mental fangasm that was going on over this Scotsman.

By the time the bell rang from the pizza man at the bottom floor of the apartment Lucy had filled the cake tins to a reasonable and even amount and sat on the swivel chair. The three were watching the program they had chosen, Natus and Lucy yelling at Gray whenever he interrupted the majestic beauty that was David Tennant with a beard.

Gray was tasked with going to the lobby of the apartment building to get the pizza, an excuse to make him go away. When he had returned the piazzas were placed on the coffee table magazines and shared out between the three. As he bit into the meat feast, Gray began cussing repeatedly and fanning his mouth as if it would help with the burning spiciness of the food. It didn't.

And it was very funny.

**~~/()(O)()()()()()()()()()(O)()\~~**

Lucy had returned to her university after she and Gray had finished the cake by icing it and decorating it with fresh strawberries that Gray had in his kitchen. Natus had left after the cake had been baked as Gray got slightly annoyed at him for having borderline phone sex on his couch; the man texted Lucy to inform her how the conversation was fake and meant to annoy Gray. The cake looked good and would be spending the night in grass fridge until Erza picked it up.

After being so holder for her lateness by the dorm manager, Lucy walked up the stairs to her third floor dorm and snuck past Levy's dorm room completely unaware that she was sleeping softly against the shockingly good quality beds. She closed the door softly and locked the door.

On instinct she pulled out her laptop from the desk and opened the email program. She'd got an email or two throughout the cake making and decorating process and she didn't wish for the notification bubble to remain on her phone, so she used her laptop for some reason.

She had, it seemed, five emails. The first was her monthly phone bill with would be reduced from her bank account; she scowled at the higher than usual price, stupid high quality voice recording app. The second email was an advert form a supermarket which she's made a customer card with so she'd get the occasional deal from them. The third was from a company that, for five dollars a month, would send you deals for anything from a luxury cruise to toilet paper; 50% off on a good brand ice cream today. The fourth was a notification from a monthly magazine subscription which was informing that it had been shipped and would be at the university shortly. The fifth caught her eye.

**Writers Cornucopia! **

**A user, 'Albion-Runic', had replied to your post **

**'Writers block disaster' **

After clicking in the email and expanding it, which presented her with a lot of seemingly insignificant writing about the details, she clicked in the link that sent her to the forum page she had set up previously. She rolled down the web page past her own post, regretting not plugging in her computer mouse to streamline the process, and read the reply set by this supposed Albion-Runic.

**_First off I must say that I am sympathetic to your troubles, the dastardly threat of writers block is one that looms above the head of anyone who chooses to write. From my own experiences I may have some help for you in what I've once done to help myself._

_-Firstly, as you've said you haven't had much time to write and it's difficult to start again, it may be because you've fallen out of practice in writing the character you portray. I'd recommend that you re-read some chapters you're already written so you know the characters again. Once done, write a short story or two about the characters to practice but not have any influence in the overall storyline._

_-Secondly, don't do what many do and stick to your original ideas as if they are necessary. Often, writers block is caused by a writer not wanting to write what they planned, and when they do it turns out to be lacking in quality. You can change things if it makes you want to write more._

_-Thirdly, have a long bath with the general outcome of the chapter you wish to write. It may sound odd, but the steam caused by a hot bath can often allow your mind to wonder easily and without restraint. If possible get a voice recorded and speak as if you were writing._

_I hope this helps you and if you wish to feel free to ask for more help with your writing struggles. Happy word forging._

_Albion-Runic~_ **

Lucy had read the post twice, once skimming through it and then reading it in detail; a small idiosyncrasy that occurred when she was residing emails. She was unaware why she did this, probably from her high school where phones were banned so she was forced to read them in a matter of seconds before putting the phone away. It must have stuck.

The third option of helping her writers block struggles was the most appealing, and although the room quality of her dorms wasn't the best the bathrooms were second to none. Well, they had baths, but most university dorms didn't and that was good enough. Besides, this was a valid and perfectly good excuse to use all the bath items she had made a collection of over recent months and never used.

The knowledge of the pitiful water pressure of the bath-taps well known to her, she turned them on and sat at her desk chair so she could see the bath as it filled with both water and bubbles from the liquid shed put in before. She placed the laptop on her knees and opened the word files which contained the seventh chapter, which had key information and good references to the main characters.

As she reaffirmed herself with characters she had done an assortment of things. First, realising that she was still slightly hungry as she had less pizza than expected as Gray couldn't eat the meat feast after Natus had infected it with spice, she had got herself a pot-noodle from the kitchen; she'd got out a scented candle and lit it beside the bath so now the smell of Bakewell-Tarts flooded through the small apartment; and she'd had about three glasses of water as she was oddly thirsty.

She soon submerged herself in the warm water after placing a bath bomb in it and watching it fizz away happily. She'd set up her phone so it would record her speaking if she had, though it was often used for lectures when she couldn't be bothered to write notes. She now let the warm water envelop her body as she relaxed.

"Ok Albion-Runic, let's test your ideas out."

**I~~~~~**

**Yay, the third chapter is up and ready to read for your pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry for the wait. It would have taken less time but o had to change what happened a bit or the chapter would be too short. That's really all. Bye**

**Thelonehound~**


	4. Chapter 4: Writers Home

**Chapter Four: Writers Home**

**\\_/|IO~~~~~~~~~OI|\\_/**

The premise of normality is a fundamentally flawed one. The definition of normal is when you conform to a standard, yet the standards of normality cannot be set, and if they could then who would have the right to do so. Normality is a subjective thing, you can set the standards of your own life and follow them and be deemed normal by those who follow the same standards, and those who don't aren't normal. Everyone is normal as normality is defined by the person.

For Freed, his normal morning routine goes like this. He wakes up at eight thirty AM by an alarm clock that his brother wouldn't hear. He'd, after minuets of procrastinating, get up from the bed and trudge to his shower, clothes dropping to the floor as he walked. After twenty minutes or so of letting the hot water beat against his skin he'd leave the shower and dry himself. He clothed himself soon after being dry with whatever outfit he so desired, usually a button up shirt and black trousers. He would then tidy his room, if needed, and open the curtains to let sunlight flood in. He's then go to the shared space and make the two breakfasts: Freed had either toast of a health cereal and Laxus would have a horrid smelling smoothie.

Of corse there would be the practically inevitable moment where the woman that Laxus had picked up the night before would leave the room where she had slept, hoping to get away without him knowing so she wouldn't have to face the embarrassing morning after moment, or just so avoid exchanging phone numbers so all Laxus was to her was sexual relief. They all stopped when they saw Freed, and the reaction when he attempted to start up a friendly conversations with them was varied and usually amusing. Not that freed did it for that reason though, not at all.

Having done the ritual of his normal morning he stopped himself from waking up his brother, he deserved to sleep in for once. He'd been busy with the newly gained job training, it was eating up the time he usually allocated to doing nothing but lying on his bed, so he hadn't had much time to rest. And the woman he's slept with the night before was loud with her cries, so he knew Laxus had been up late.

The older male arose from his bedroom a few hours later, groggily walking to the kitchen and drinking the health drink freed had prepared. Too engulfed by tiredness, he didn't notice Freed's tut at his lack of anything but his boxers to cover himself up.

"Your guest left." Freed informed him without care. "I did offer to make her breakfast however she looked at me as if I was insane. Not that it's any of my business, but you could try and have one night stands with more polite people as usually I'm the one who deals with them in the morning."

"Polite chicks don't do guys on the first night." Laxus grumbled. "She was a bitch though, yelled at me when I was fucking her to be harder and my cock was pathetic. It's a monster, bitch was just too needy."

"I could hear, didn't hurt your pride I hope." Freed smirked without alerting Laxus, he'd be punched if he had. "I have to say though, she didn't meet the standards that you normally keep up. She was relatively attractive, but by no means as well endowed as you like, not even a C-cup by my estimations."

"Slow night." Laxus slammed the glass which held the green liquid on the counter and slumped down beside Freed. "You doing anything today?"

"Not much, really. I've got some writing to do so a lot of my time will be designated to that. I may be going to Mirajanes for lunch if I can't be bothered to make myself anything. Have you any plans?"

"Wanted to put my feet up and relax, got my first regular yesterday and I know he's gonna be a dick to train. Spindly rich kid, says he was a six pack by summer; like hell that's gonna happen. Really, do kids think if you do a couple sit ups a day and jog around once a week you'll get ripped?" His statement was rhetorical. "I mean, you do an hours good working out a day and you barely keep your abs, the fuck does he think three days a week of half hour sessions'll do to him. Barely could lift a weigh."

"Don't be mean to the poor kid, I'm sure he's not that bad." Freed placed the newspaper her was reading on the coffee table and sighed. "Besides, I'm sure every personal trainer gets people like that, someone who thinks that those videos on YouTube actually work and going to a gym is just a quicker way to do it. And at least you get to shout at him to do gruelling exercises, that must get some stress you hold for him out."

"A bit I guess, but we don't get to shout as much as I though. We have to be supportive and crap, 'parently it helps them get more comfortable so they do the shit better." Laxus slammed his feet up on the table and took the remote from Freed and changed the channel to a rerun of an episode of Nija-Warrior that he'd missed the night before. "And the guys a dick, thinks cause he has money he can he's better than me. Sure as hell gonna push him past the limits and make him sweat off that stupid attitude."

"If he's as bad as your attempting to say then I suppose he deserves it." The two sat in silence for a moment, watching the TV as the conversation had ended.

"Look at the muscles on her." Laxus commented in reference to a woman who was jumping from slope to slope on the game show they were watching. She was wearing a sports bra and tight Lycra shores resembling ones that a cyclist would wear. "She's got a four-pack, hot. Kinda hope she fails, seein' here all wet would be sexy."

"Really, I would have thought you'd like to see her get through, that way you could ogle at her for longer and doing more physically draining activities." Freed competed. "And do you really think that amount of muscles are attractive, I've always found it off putting."

"Your kidding ain't ya, girls with abs are fucking great." Laxus grinned. "A girl like that doesn't need a man to do all the shit she wants him to do, she's got the body to do it herself."

"Yes, I do take the practicality of a girl into account while assessing wether I feel attracted to her and have feeling for her." Fred's tone was laced with sarcasm. "It's a personal preference, I've never found an overabundance of muscles to be attractive, on both woman and men. It's just seems strange."

"So me and Elfman, then, were guys with big ass muscles. You think we're weird I guess." Laxus teased.

"Not strange, that's not the word. I'd say you're more... disproportionate. It becomes absurd when the surface area of a persons back is larger than that of a child's bed." Freed stood up as the woman on the screen failed her third attempt at the aptly named 'warped wall' and failed the corse. "I just see it as a waste of time to get to a point where your muscles are that large, and a waste of money as it's highly unlikely that you can get to that point without some form of... help."

"I don't need help, never been close to a 'roid in my life." Laxus seemed offended by Freed's almost accusation.

"I hadn't mentioned steroids Laxus, don't jump to drastic conclusions." Freed stood up to wash his bowl as an arrogant looking man came onto the screen, he'd removed his shirt and was flexing for the female presenter; the man hadn't the time for people like that. "And as for you not having help, then why do I have to put that protein powder in those horrid smoothies."

"Yeah, well... Oh shut up." Laxus growled slightly. "Besides, you work out and have abs, not all guys have them do they?"

"The reason I 'work out' is that I want to remain healthy, the same reason I eat healthily. And I'm lucky enough to have work where I have spare time so I can exercise well." Freed walked to the kitchen, bowl in hand, and began to fill the sink with water. Again it was silent for a moment, before Laxus broke it again.

"So you don't like girls with muscles, fair enough." Laxus cracked his knuckles and reached for the remote, but the flying spoon that hit him told him to stop; Freed was mad when it came to his programs, like a really old woman. "Anything you do like in a girl, and I ain't talking personality."

"I don't really think about it all that much, to be honest. Though, whenever I do envision a woman I can see myself with a girl with long hair." Freed began to dry the bowl as well as a few other mismatched things left from the previous night. "I never know why, I suppose it's how all the women i knew as a child had long hair so it was my belief that the woman I eventually end up with would have long hair too."

"Sure it ain't because you don't wanna be thought of a the girl, since your hairs longer than most girls." Proud with his joke, Laxus grinned a stupid little grin.

"Although you may find your little jokes about my hairstyle utterly hilarious, I think laced in them is some deep insecurities." Laxus let a groan slip through his lips, Freed was going to make up some psychological crap to use against him because he doesn't have a real response; making stuff up and making threats were Freed's version of correcting grammar on the Internet. "Perhaps you make these comments on my hair because it's something related to the socially accepted gender roles that I, with such long hair, am breaking. Personally I think you conform to these social rules far too much, perhaps you're hiding something by over compensating on these manly traits. Could you be hiding a sexuality your afraid to admit?"

"Shut up Freed." Laxus didn't add tone, he wasn't really listening.

"I'm just trying to help my brother, Laxus. For all I know you've been feeling romantic and sexual thought towards men from an early age and you've concocted a personality around hiding that and, although outwardly you appear to be the man all men should be, inside you may just be a submissive who wants a kiss on the forehead."

"Freed, really, shut up." Laxus was listening now and annoyed at his brother.

"So, your telling me that not even a little part of you wants to get a nice house in the suburbs with a fireplace where you and a nice man can cuddle. You in his arms, maybe with a puppy or kitten on your lap with a mug of hot chocolate resting on your knee while watching a-"

"Freed Justine if you don't stop talking right now I swear to god I'll tear your balls off and eat them."

"Okay, fair enough. Well, we need to get some food since the cupboard are bare so I'll be out for a while, might get my car washed as well. Don't know when I'll get back so don't wait for me." Freed picked up his wallet and keys, packing his laptop in the bag and placing it over his shoulder. He walked out of the door but stopped at the threshold. "I do feel the need to point out that in your threat you placed my genitals in your mouth, something to think about."

Freed closed the door before the airborne shoe hit him.

**~~/()(O)()()()()()()()()()(O)()\~~**

"Where's your car, I didn't see you pull up." They were the words Freed was greeted to as he entered the bakery, which was accompanied by the overwhelming smell of freshly baked bread and cakes. The words were spoken by one of the bakers of the bakery, Bickslow. "What can I get you for?"

"You really need to work on forming correct sentences, Bickslow, you know how much it annoys me." Freed walked to the counter and leant on it, blocking some of the doughnuts and cake slices that were held in the glass casing below. "Can I get two loafs of bread, one brown and the other wholemeal. I can I get a slice of pizza, you hear them up don't you?"

"Yes we do, pretty-boy." Freed rolled his eyes at the nickname, it was meant to annoy as Bickslow was as straight as they came. "So, your car, 'cause you know we only charge if you stay there for hours and the closest place where you can park's really expensive."

"No, I didn't cheat on your car parking spaces, I gave it to the garage down the road." Freed sat down on one of the two small tables set up for the few people who wanted to sit it; they were also used if someone wanted a cake being made and they wanted to taste test. "I thought it was due to be cleaned both inside and out, not to mention the tires are starting to go down so they needed to be filled up and I'm atrocious with it."

"You really trust them with your fancy ass car?"

"Yes, I really do trust them with my fancy ass car with fantastic insurance and a tracking device in it." Freed pulled out his laptop and turned it on, typing in his password and ignoring the startup chime. "Besides, I usually go there to have it cleaned and I've never had an issue with them before so why would I now. They know I'm worth more to them as a customer than a victim of thievery."

"Look at fancy ass Freed, getting people to clean his car and do his tires with his magic tracker chip."

"It's there job and they do it well, why not use the service if I can?" Freed then smirked. "Besides, I'm incredibly wealthy and can hire people to do things for me. Your currently making the bread I'm going to eat."

"Had anyone ever told you that you're a missive dick and it's hard to like you."

"It's the dominating opinion about me." Bickslow placed the plastic bag containing the loafs of bread, then placing a slice of pizza on a plate in front of him. "Thank you, do you want a tip?"

"No, because I know you'll come up with some smart-ass sarcastic about that like: 'don't ask for tips, that's your tip'." Freed pouted. "So, haven't had a chat with you for ages, how've ya been?" Bickslow took the other chair and leant on the table.

"Fairly well, Kagura's been breathing down my neck to get chapters done and making irrational threats as an incentive to do it; the most recent was burning my hair off and lighting a firework which had been lodged up where I wouldn't want it." Freed clicked on his emails to check and saw how 'StarSummoner' had sent a message to him. "I've been writing though, seemingly getting my flow back which I helpful as I'd rather not have a firework force itself through my body because of my flaming hair."

"Hey, wanna make a bet?" Bickslow asked, seemingly no incentive. "We play a card game or something and you write a little story for me. That girl on the cover of your second books the hot investigator chick, Clary, ain't she?"

"Her names Clara, but yes. And why would you want me to write something for you?"

"Her getting fucked by me, plain and simple. Don't need a plot, just smutty goodness."

"I won't do that, I have a standard of writing and, this may shock you, but erotic literature and serious literature with sarcastic undertones don't stand hand in hand." Freed clicked on the email StarSummoner sent him, scowling at how she had sent him a picture commonly referred to as a LolCat, which she knew very well he hated as they were childish and misspelt. And she had made this one with the words 'FweEdz a GwummmpY SoDd', she wasn't the best at insult, nor misspelling. It took him a while to realise she was saying that he was a grumpy sod. Which he wasn't, to clarify.

"Yeah yeah, you ain't lowering yourself to that. But you've got a fan base, Freed. People write smut about your characters all the time, why not join them."

_~~ To: StarSummoner._

_I hope your happy with yourself, Lucy, because I can assure you that I am not happy. I thought you were better than this, purposely spelling words incorrectly and making grammar mistakes. I thought you were a writer, but apparently you've thrown your self respect away_.

"I will not join in with them as I don't want to contribute with the over-sexualisation of my characters. I created Clara as an attractive woman to show how little it mattered to all other characters." Freed sent the email to StarSummoner, who had insisted they make new email addresses to hide privacy. She was the only one who did it, Freed chose not to as it didn't matter if she knew his name; what could she do, blackmail by sending out tips of how to combat writers block.

_~~ From: StarSummoner_

_You know you love it when I annoy your, Runic. :D I don't see why you hate the cats so much, they're cute and can't spell. What's not to like, oh wait, I forgot that you're a GwummmpY SoDd. :D :D_

"Still, haven't you ever thought of at least writing a fanfic for your own books, not sexy and stuff but just when you know how to write the characters and how to write how you write, but I don't see a difference in any books really." Seeing that freed wasn't eating it, Bickslow took a large bite from the pizza. "You could do one of those things where you go down one road the real ones don't. Make it interesting."

_~~ To: StarSummoner _

_I can assure you that I do not, in anyway, enjoy it when you go out of your way to aggravate me. And I don't hate cats, I hate when people deface cats with their lack of knowledge of the English language, therefore I hate you. And, if I were the type to put those idiotic smiley faces on emails, I would. However I won't because I think it's stupid._

"It has crossed my mind to make a form of alternate timeline, yes, and I have a few ideas swimming around the back of my head but I fear that after this book Kagura will extort another book out of me so that may be the only way I can do it without having to sell my soul to her, though she'd probably like that."

_~~ From: StarSummoner _

_Don't you DARE say anything bad about smiley faces made by punctuation and letters, because Albion, I can assure you that they are a hell of a lot better that you. And why are you so mean to me, because if you keep being mean to me I'll send an army of cats to your house wearing those coats with misspellings on them to annoy you_.

"She's a mad woman, get a better publisher and you'll be happier." Bickslow grinned at his friend. "Don't do that, she's a hot chick and I wanna get with her, can't do that when she's all pissy about you giving her the boot."

_~~ To: StarSummoner _

_Firstly, don't ever capitalise a word to exaggerate the effect in a book, it's a terrible idea and looks cheep; use italics or some other form of modification to the font. Secondly, I'm mean to you because I'm allowed to be mean to you. Thirdly, it would be impossibly for you to finish your threat as you don't have that many cats, cats aren't aggressive by nature, and you don't know where I live. Make realistic threats, please_.

"I can assure you that you wouldn't want to date Kagura after spending the amount of time you would have to to do so." Freed reached for his pizza, only to see it in his friends mouth. "Then you'd loose your will to live."

_~~ From: StarSummoner _

_Your a horrible person. :D_

_~~ To: StarSummoner _

_Yes, indeed I am_

_~~ To: StarSummoner _

_:D_

**Hello, So this took considerably longer than I expected. I'm still getting used the fact I can't get away with writing something and publishing it immediately and o have to use my beta readers now. Anyway, my two betas were busy with their own lives and stories, as they should be, so this took a while. That's for your patients. **

**Thelonehound~**


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